The Price of Freedom
by RodaRolla2
Summary: "I want my freedom, but am I willing to pay the price that it will cost?" Legolas, Boromir, Aragorn, and Pippin ask themselves. Will they be willing to sacrifice their newly found freedom for their friends, family, home, and people? AU, slash, het, will-o'-the-wisps, demons, magic, character death not Boromir the leprechuan on my shoulder won't allow it , and triplets! *shudders*
1. Meet the heroes

Inspiring quotes: "I want my freedom!" "But are you willing to pay the price your freedom will cost?"

Characters: Legolas, Thranduil, Aragorn, Arathorn, Boromir, Denethor, Pippin, Merry, Frodo, Sam, Elrond, Arwen, Elladan, Elrohir, Galadhriel, OC's

Summary: In separate corners of Middle-earth, four rebellious beings long for one thing, freedom. Legolas, the Eldest Prince of Mirkwood, longs for freedom from his father's palace. Aragorn, heir to the throne of Gondor, wants to be free from all the expectations of him. Boromi, the heir to the Steward of Gondor and best friend to Aragorn, wishes to be free from his over bearing father. Pippin, a hobbit from the Shire, wants to be free from the non-adventuring rules of the Shire. Those that are closest to them attempt to get them to just forget about it. Aragorn and Boromir accept that their land needs them but still dream about freedom. Pippin, in a huff, runs into the Old Forest and cries because him family wants him to abandon his only dream. Legolas, the stubborn and foolish Elf, disappeared into his forest home along with his sisters. However, a few years later, creatures began to appear to the freedom-seekers. Legolas, instead of the peaceful creatures, is confronted by the reason for the appearances, the demon Caorthannach. Legolas journeys to Lothlorien to seek council with the Lady of the Wood. Pippin runs to Rivendell after the creatures predict the destruction of the Shire to seek the way to save his home. Boromir and Aragorn throw themselves into saving their home when evil forces seek to destroy Gondor.

Pairings: Aragorn/Arwen (few times! Few times!) Boromir/Legolas, ? (not sure who else)

Notes: This idea has came in my mind several times after watching **Disney's Brave** but this is the only one I have got around to writing. I hope that this won't turn out like rubbish, but it might… The demon in this story, I have borrowed its name from Irish mythology. Gimli and Gandalf might be appearing but I don't know at the moment. This is in an alternate universe where Isildur destroyed the One Ring. Anywho, on with the story!

"Miniel,Tadiel, Neliel, I'm going out riding!" Legolas called out to his triplet sisters.

"We wanna go! We wanna go!" Legolas was tackled by three little blonde haired elflings.

"Okay, penneths, you may come." Legolas laughed as he gently set the elflings on the ground. The young ones giggled as they ran to the stables to get their horses.

"You really need to pay attention to the affairs of the people instead of riding away from it." Legolas suppressed a growl as he turned and faced his father.

"I learn more about the very basics when I inspect them myself. Besides, I don't get to spend much time with my sisters. I'm not passing this up." Legolas said.

"You need to pay attention to your studies!" Thranduil snapped. "There will be plenty of time to spend with your sisters,"

"Like there was plenty of time to spend with nanneth!" Legolas nearly shouted. "She was killed by orcs and I barely knew her! Plenty of time will turn into the girls growing up, and sailing for Valinor or death!" Legolas knew that he was getting to his father by the look on his face. Unknown to them, Miniel was standing listening to their argument.

"You're acting like a spoilt child!" Thranduil roared. Legolas clenched his fist and lowered his voice.

"I want my freedom." He said at a normal volume yet the defiance remained.

"But are you willing to pay the price your freedom will cost?" Thranduil's voice and face softened.

"Depends on the price," Legolas replied as he walked away.

"I hate it when you and Ada argue." Miniel whispered as she grabbed Legolas' hand.

"I'm sorry little one." Legolas scooped her up and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Will you still ride with us?" Miniel curled up in her older brother's arm.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world." Legolas smiled.

In the Shire

"Why are you so foolish?" Sam hissed at Pippin.

"Adventuring like you want to do is likely to get you killed!" Merry snapped. Pippin held his head high.

"I want to be away from this boring society! I want to see the world! IWANT MY FREEDOM!" Pippin said defiantly.

"But are you willing to pay the price your freedom will cost?" Frodo said to his younger cousin. Pippin turned around and ran away. He ran into the Old Forest, heedless of his cousins' and friend's cries. He soon curled up beneath a large oak tree and sobbed.

"They want me to give up my dream, but I won't let them convince me to." Pippin whispered. "What's that?" Pippin looked where he saw a little blue light.

"Ooh!" the light suddenly disappeared.

"I must be seeing things…" Pippin mumbled as he trudged to his cousin's house in Crickhollow.

"Pippin! Don't you ever go back in there alone, you hear me?" Sam scolded as he pulled Pippin into a hug. "You had us all so worried when you didn't come back. We thought something had happened to you."

"I'm fine, Sam. But I think I need some sleep… I think I started seeing things." Pippin mumbled into his friends shoulder.

"The forest might sometimes play tricks on someone's mind, Pip." Merry said as he looked the younger hobbit over. "Who knows, there might be something out there. No one knows what exactly is out there."

"But please, don't go out there alone again. Especially since there have been strange sightings in there." Frodo sighed. Pippin nodded.

In Minas Tirith, Gondor, the Steward's home

"Father!" Boromir groaned.

"You need to focus on your city, not on some idea such as freedom!" Denethor growled at Boromir.

"One needs to be free from everything for a little while!" Boromir snapped.

"You need to make sure the city is protected! You need to serve your people!" Denethor roared.

"I want my freedom!" Boromir roared equally as loud.

"But are you willing to pay the price your freedom will cost?" Faramir whispered. He was always quiet and never yelled.

"My people…this city…." Boromir looked down and said no more. He accepted that his people needed him more than he needed freedom, but they couldn't stop him from dreaming about freedom. "I'm going to go check on Blaze. I think he might have sprained his ankle." Boromir left and walked towards the stable where his horse Blaze rested.

In Minas Tirith, Gondor, the King's Palace

"You are a Prince, my son, not a Ranger." Arathorn sighed as he watched his only child knock an arrow and let it fly into the target.

"I know." Aragorn said as he knock another arrow and loosed it.

"Then, why must you go on and on about the freedom that you wish for?" Arathorn asked.

"I want my freedom." Aragorn said as he shot another arrow.

"But are you willing to pay the price your freedom will cost? Think about it, what will Gondor do without her king when the time comes? What would become of your friends and other family? What will your people do?" Arathorn asked his son.

"You're right. My people need me more than I need my freedom." Aragorn sighed. "But that doesn't stop me from dreaming about it."

"Just as long as your people remain well taken care of, you can dream as much as you want, my son." Arathorn smiled.

"I'm going to check on Brego." Aragorn said as he retrieved his arrows and walked towards where his horse was along side Blaze.


	2. Caorthannach appears and a prophecy

I just realized something….. I don't do disclaimers mainly… What's that? Oh, my leprechaun I mentioned in the first description you guys saw wishes to be known as Angus and he has something to say.

Angus: Rodarolla2 owns nothing. Nothing I say! *shakes fist at lawyers* She didn't mention this, but, you will be hearing quotes from **Brave **in this thing. The inspirational quotes were from **Brave**. So please-

Miniel: *tackles Angus* She owns me!

Tadiel: *tackles Angus* And me!

Neliel: *tackles Angus* She owns me and also the demon that will appear in this chapter, although she borrowed the name.

Legolas: Mini, Adi, Nel, get off the poor leprechaun. *sighs* Rodarolla2 based this demon that I have the _pleasure_ of finding *glares at Rodarolla2* off of Mor'du from Brave. This is not a spoiler, mind you!

Angus: Caorthannach is a generic enemy. You know the 'super-evil-try-to-kill-hero/heroine- at-the-beginning-fail-later-face-off-and-get-killed-by-said-hero/heroine' type of enemy. So please review and thank you for reading.

Thank you! *glances at the red headed archer sitting on my bed and reading over my shoulder* Why is Merida in my room and watching everything I do?

Merida: Because you need some help with this story, plus I want to see which character you kill off, what this 'based-off-of-Mor'du' demon is all about, and you're listening to my soundtrack so I want to listen too.

*sweatdrops* Oh… Well thanks! In this chapter only Leggy will be appearing from our list of heroes. On with the story!

"Toron, why is the forest so quiet?" Legolas asked his horse. His response was a nicker and a snort. "Do you feel that, chill?" Legolas dismounted and knocked an arrow in his trusty bow. "It is coming closer…" Suddenly, Legolas turned around and gasped. There was a shadow creeping towards him.

"Elf…." It whispered. Legolas shot his arrow at it. The shape avoided it and took on the shape of a bear over twelve feet tall.

"Elbereth help me!" Legolas prayed as he scrambled up a tree and ran through the tree top.

"Die!" the shape hissed as it struck at the Woodland Prince, who yelped and jumped from the tree.

"Elbereth," Legolas breathed as he dashed through the trees to the safety of the palace.

"Foolish Elf!" the shape hissed just after landing a blow on the Prince..

"AHHH!" Legolas screamed as he stumbled and fell due to the 'bear's' claws tearing into his side. The shape had him pinned down and was about to kill him.

"Legolas!" Miniel, Tadiel, and Neliel screamed as the saw their brother. The shape saw the three triplets and started to lumber after them.

"Leave them alone!" Legolas staggered to his feet, pulled out his twin knives, and imbedded them deep into the creature. The shape roared in pain and swiped at the Prince, sending him flying into a tree and causing the knives to rip out of it, inducing more pain.

"This is not over." The shape hissed before disappearing.

"Are you alright?" Legolas asked his sisters as they ran to him.

"We're fine." Miniel gasped as she hugged her brother.

"We need to get you to the healers!" Neliel breathed as she saw the wound on his side.

"Where's Toron, we'll get you on him and be back home in no time!" Tadiel said as she looked frantically around. Toron came trotting into the clearing.

"Thank Elbereth." Miniel breathed as the triplets managed to get the severely wounded Prince onto his horse.

"Let's go!" Neliel said as she and her sisters swung up on their horses. They rode hard until they reached the palace.

"There you are…." Thranduil trailed off as he saw the state his eldest was in.

"Ada!" Neliel cried as she jumped from her horse.

"There was this bear!" Tadiel jumped off of her own horse.

"It was a shadow demon in the form of a bear! And he had Legolas pinned down! He was gonna kill him! He got Legolas several times!" Miniel cried as she jumped from her horse and started to pull her brother from his.

"A shadow demon? Are you sure Mini?" Thranduil asked as he caught Legolas before he hit the ground.

"Positive." Miniel replied as her father carried her brother to the healers.

"Let's go put the horses up." Tadiel said as she led her and her brother's horse to the stable.

"Aye…" Neliel sighed as she followed her older sisters to the stables.

"Ion nin, thank the Valar you're alright." Thranduil sighed as his son woke up.

"I'm grateful that I was not killed." Legolas groaned as he sat up.

"Your sister, Miniel, thinks that your attacker was a shadow demon." Thranduil chuckled. Legolas stared at his father.

"It was." Legolas said flatly. "I first noticed it when it was just a shadow creeping towards me and I shot at it as it came closer. It took the form of a bear and chased me." Thranduil stopped chuckling and stared wide-eyed at his son.

"If that's so, then that was…" Thranduil gasped in horror. "Caorthannach…." Legolas had a blank look on his face. "I need to go consult with the advisors about this…"

"I need to go to the library." Legolas muttered as he walked to the library. He started looking through everything on bears to find out more about Caorthannach.

"Oh!" a blue wisp said as Legolas noticed it. He began creeping towards it, started when it disappeared, and followed a trail of them to the very back of the library.

"Creatures of the Shadow…." Legolas murmured as he looked at the book the wisps led him to. "Caorthannach…" Legolas flipped to the section that the shadow demons were in and was rewarded when he saw the bear that attacked him.

'_Caorthannach is the worst of all these. Standing at fifteen feet at the tallest, he is more likely to take the form of a bear than others, but has been known to take the form of a warg, and other such creatures. His usual form has led him to be called Shadow-bear. Caorthannach is prophesized to be slew by the Green leaf, as mentioned in the prophecy below:_

_Beidh an Scáth-iompróidh an fiach an duilleog Glas,  
Beidh an Trí Iníonacha shábháil an duilleog.  
Cur chuige baol mór an Adhmaid.  
Déanfaidh an duilleog Glas teitheadh an Adhmaid órga,  
I gcás ina scoirfidh sé a fhoghlaim go ach le cabhair ó na trí cinn eile ar fud an domhain a bheith sábháilte.  
Tá an óg leath-fear, an Prionsa airgid, agus an saighdiúir bán.  
Faraoir déanfaidh an duilleog Glas titim ar an Scáth-iompróidh tar éis a titim!_

_Which translates to:_

_The Shadow-bear will hunt the Green leaf,  
The Three Daughters will save the leaf.  
Great danger approaches the Wood.  
The Green leaf shall flee to the golden Wood,  
Where he shall learn that only with the help of three others shall the world be safe.  
The young half-man, the silver prince, and the white soldier.  
Alas the Green leaf shall fall to the Shadow-bear after its fall!_

_No one knows what to make of this, but it clearly depicts Caorthannach's fall.'_

Legolas stared wide-eyed at the book as thoughts rushed through his mind. He was the Green leaf, his sisters, Miniel, as her name means The First Daughter, Tadiel, The Second Daughter, and Neliel, The Third Daughter. They saved him from the demon! Caorthannach is hunting him! Legolas' face hardened as he grabbed a few books, ran to his room, wrote a few notes, packed a few choice items, left the notes where the intended recipients could find them, pulled the hood of his cloak up, swung up on his horse, and rode for Lothlorien.

Is Leggy going to die?

Merida: If the prophecy holds true then yes.

The prophecy is your first glimpse of the other heroes' part in the whole 'Leggy-vs-Caorthannach' thing. Well I hope you enjoyed this. Bye!


	3. Pippin, whisps, and another prophecy

Merida: Since Rodarolla2 is a wee bit busy, I'll introduce this thing. Okay so we have Pippin in this chapter and there is a (not so surprising) surprise. Also another prophecy but this time it centers on someone else. So please review. Thank you for reading.

Pippin hummed as he waded out into the river with his cousins, Merry and Frodo, and his friend, Sam. It was a beautiful day and the four hobbits had seen it fit to spend the day having fun.

"Oh!" Pippin saw another little blue light. It was a wisp.

"Will-o'-the-wisp….." Pippin whispered as he followed it.

"Ooh!" the wisp disappeared as Pippin got close to it. Pippin noticed a trail of them and followed it.

"Pippin?" Merry looked around for his younger cousin.

"Mr. Frodo! He's going into the woods!" Sam called as he saw Pippin follow the trail of wisps into the Old Forest.

"Let's go." Frodo said as they dashed after the younger hobbit.

"Where is he going?" Merry muttered as he followed his younger cousin.

"Are those things that he's following, are those wisps?" Sam frowned.

"What is he doing?" Frodo mumbled as Pippin knelt beside a standing stone.

"The Shadow-bear shall once again show himself. Though he shall not see the Shadow until another time, the young half-man will flee for the safety of the Homely House to prevent danger from reaching his home. There, he shall meet the silver prince and the white soldier, Both of whom will be needed to fell the Shadow-bear. But, it shall not be the silver prince, the white soldier, or the half-man that fells the Shadow, No it shall be the Green leaf, yet, even the Greenest of leaves cannot withstand the Shadow, and shall fall like leaves do." Pippin read aloud and his eyes widened.

"A prophecy?" Merry mumbled.

"I have to leave the Shire!" Pippin jumped up and ran for Frodo's house in Crickhollow.

"Follow him!" Frodo said. They reached his house as Pippin was throwing some things into his pack. The other three hobbits followed him and grabbed some food as Pippin didn't have the sense to in his rush.

"I hope they understand…" Pippin sighed as he walked towards Rivendell.

"Yes we understand, but you're not going alone." Frodo grinned as they followed Pippin. They were surprised at the time Pippin was making.

"Since when was he this fast?" Sam huffed as they ran after the sprinting hobbit.

"When were _we_ this fast?" Merry panted.

"Gotta get out of the Shire, gotta get out." Pippin breathed. They didn't stop running until they were six days from Rivendell.

"Should we tell Pip that we've following him?" Merry asked.

'No, let him sleep. He needs it." Frodo shook his head as Pippin curled up in the shelter of Weathertop. "We need sleep as well." The others nodded and fell asleep but were up before Pippin and ready to go when he woke up. Pippin started for Rivendell again and made it two more days without having to stop. He slept again and rose again and continued this two day cycle until he reached Rivendell.


	4. Wee devils, wisps, Boromir, Aragorn

Merida: Well Rodarolla2 has asked me to tell you that Gimli shall be appearing, Gandalf is questionable at the moment. This chapter is focusing on Boromir and Aragorn.

Angus: You will find that their chapters will mainly be of them together. Also the wee devils will be appearing to the two Men while looking for their brother.

Merida: By wee devils he doesn't mean my brothers, he means the Elfling sisters of Legolas. They are like wee devils. In the last chapter they were about eight, now they're about sixteen. Before you gripe about their age, the Elves age just about as fast as mortals, they only stop aging at twenty-five. Anyway thank you for reading and review please.

"I don't like all this strange evil." Aragorn turned to look at his best friend and raised an eyebrow at his words.

"It's evil, evil's always strange." Aragorn sighed.

"That's not what I mean." Boromir shook his head.

"Oh! You mean the wisps showing up." Aragorn nodded. "I know…." Aragorn trailed off as he saw three hooded figures riding towards the city.

"What?" Boromir turned and saw the figures as well.

"Well met, my friends, where do you hail from?" Aragorn called out to them. The riders turned towards them and rode towards them.

"Gîl síla na lû govaded." One said.

"We come from Mirkwood." Another one said.

"Mirkwood? The Elven forest realm?" Aragorn asked.

"Aye," the first one nodded.

"What brings you to Gondor?" Boromir asked.

"We look for our brother." The last one said.

"Perhaps we could help you, what does he look like?" Aragorn said. The three riders put down their hood revealing three almost identical she-elves.

"First you should know his name. He is Legolas Thranduilion. He prefers to be called Legolas Greenleaf though. He has extremely straight golden blonde hair, very blue eyes, nearly snow colored skin, and is tall." The first to speak had straight, reddish blonde hair, green eyes, and freckles.

"He wears green mostly," the next one said. She had wavy golden hair, brown eyes, and freckles.

"He glows with light, especially at night in the starlight…. He's injured and is being targeted by a shadow demon and we're worried about him. The only reason it didn't kill him before was because we had found them." The last one whispered. She was obviously the youngest, had unruly red hair, blue eyes, and freckles.

"We haven't seen him, but he might be in Ithilien." Boromir mused.

"Then to Ithilien!" the three said as they pulled their hoods up. The two Men grinned as they mounted their horses.

"So if we're going to help you, we need to know your names." Aragorn said as they caught up with the she-elves. "I'm Aragorn, son of,"

"Arathorn, yeah we know. And your companion is Boromir, son of Denethor." The golden haired she-elf said. "I'm Tadiel Thranduilien."

"How did you know our names?" Boromir asked, shocked.

"My youngest sister has a knack for prophecies, future telling, and the like." The reddish blonde she-elf said. "I'm Miniel Thranduilien."

"I don't have a knack for them! I just read them." The red head she-elf blushed. "I'm Neliel Thranduilien."

"I bet you're angry at Legolas for taking your books." Tadiel snickered.

"Legolas needs them more than I do at the moment." Neliel replied.

"Loboreth!" Miniel cried as her horse started going crazy.

"Mini!" Tadiel shouted. The crazed horse took her rider deep into Ithilien. Tadiel spurred her horse, Rocheth, after her sister. Neliel followed on her own horse, Rochiriel. Aragorn and Boromir shrugged their shoulders and followed.

"Loboreth!" Minieil shouted as her horse bucked her off of her. She looked up and saw a wisp.

"Are you alright?" Aragorn and Boromir dismounted and helped the she-elf up.

"It's a will-o'-the-wisp…." Miniel whispered as she watched the light.

"Follow it, Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and Boromir, son of Denethor. It's meant for you." Neliel said to the boys.

"Will you follow us if we follow it?" Boromir asked.

"Aye," Tadiel nodded. The five beings followed the path that the wisps were laying out for them.

"What's this?" Aragorn looked at a large stone with some strange markings on it.

"I can't read it…" Neliel muttered as she ran her fingers over the markings.

"The silver prince and white soldier are closer than brothers. Yet their bond will only strengthen as the Shadow-bear rises. They shall find the half-man in the Homely house. And the Green leaf shall immerge from the golden wood to challenge the Shadow which seeks to destroy it. After the last battle, none, save the golden king and the Three Daughters, shall grieve more than the white soldier." Miniel said solemnly.

"How do you know what it says?" Tadiel glared at her older sister.

"Legolas can speak, write, and read it. He taught me it when you two were out playing dress up." Miniel shrugged.

"Okay so what does this mean?" Boromir mused.

"We go to Rivendell the Last Homely House." Miniel replied.

"Is that where your brother is?" Aragorn sighed.

"Nah based on that, he's in Lothlorien, the Golden Wood. Rivendell is where his counterpart is and where you two will meet the half-man." Miniel grinned. Boromir and Aragorn mounted their horses and started for Rivendell.


End file.
